System and Method for Executing A Process Workflow

ABSTRACT

A system and method are provided for executing process workflows. The method includes obtaining via a communications module, a representation of a workflow as a graph, the graph including a plurality of interconnected workflow tasks. The method also includes storing the graph in a graph database, navigating through the workflow tasks in the graph as the process is executed, and publishing via the communications module, a workflow state change with a topic for the current workflow task. The method also includes receiving via the communications module, a document for the current workflow task, wherein a state of the process is implied by the topic position in the graph, and wherein the topic determines at least one microservice to be employed. The method also includes having at least one workflow task associated with the current workflow task executed by instructing a corresponding one or more microservices via the communications module.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.17/248,060 filed on Jan. 7, 2021, the entire contents of which areincorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The following relates generally to executing process workflows.

BACKGROUND

As digital systems and user or process requirements for these systemsbecome more complicated and demanding, business process managementbecomes more challenging and complicated to implement. It is typicallyfound that few (if any) existing tools are capable of adapting togeneric and intrinsic items normally required in these businessprocesses. For example, a business process may require sequentialchecks, gates, and approvals as well as data enrichment, aggregation,and appending. These tasks can require customize programming and canincrease complexities in the end product or service. Other challengescan be introduced because of document parsing, document matching, datadistribution and transmission, time series analyses, and web publishing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments will now be described with reference to the appendeddrawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an example computing environment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example configuration of an applicationdevelopment environment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an example configuration of an enterprisesystem.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an example configuration of a workfloworchestration solution for a business process platform.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an example configuration of a businessprocess platform deployed in a computing environment.

FIGS. 6 a-6 d are examples of business process workflows.

FIG. 7 is an example of a user interface for designing a businessprocess workflow.

FIG. 8 is an example of a design dashboard user interface for designinga business process workflow.

FIG. 9 is an example of a document communication dashboard userinterface for defining communication configurations for communicationsintegrated into a business process workflow.

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram of an example of computer executableinstructions for executing a process workflow.

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram of an example of computer executableinstructions for designing a business process workflow.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration,where considered appropriate, reference numerals may be repeated amongthe figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements. Inaddition, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide athorough understanding of the example embodiments described herein.However, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the artthat the example embodiments described herein may be practiced withoutthese specific details. In other instances, well-known methods,procedures and components have not been described in detail so as not toobscure the example embodiments described herein. Also, the descriptionis not to be considered as limiting the scope of the example embodimentsdescribed herein.

It is found that many items in a business process can be generic andintrinsic to several processes and applications, particularly within anorganization. These can include, for example, business processmanagement, sequential checks/gates/approvals, dataenrichment/aggregation/appending, document parsing, document matching,data distribution and transmission, time series analyses, webpublishing, etc. Mapping microservices for such business functions canfacilitate cross-skill understanding and development. Moreover, this canprovide modularity that allows future challenges and opportunities to bemet quickly and efficiently using agnostic microservices that can beused to flexibly onboard functional extensions or changes to a process.

A state machine system or “platform” is described herein, whichabstracts process orchestration from the user via a state machine andprovides a user interface (UI) design tool to allow a business-functionoriented approach to workflow design and representation as a graph. Thesystems described herein can include a streaming distribution layer thatoffers a normalized paradigm for function integration and onboarding,and includes multiple tiers for resiliency, performance and recovery.The system can rely on a number of functional business services, whichcan be implemented as microservices.

With this system, a business process can be created and stored as agraph. Also, the system can employ dynamic routing, functionaldeclarations for application onboarding, and a standard integrationparadigm to facilitate federated building of a microservice layer. Thesystem can also persist messages in a queue and employ a database formessage recovery. The UI on top of the system provides for low- orno-code implementation of a process from building blocks associated withthe graph structure.

The following generally relates to executing process workflows, e.g., inimplementing a digital application, in particular for designing,implementing, and executing business process workflows using a workflowgraph stored in a graph database.

Certain example systems and methods described herein are able to executeprocess workflows. In one aspect, there is provided a device forexecuting process workflows. The device includes a processor, acommunications module coupled to the processor, and a memory coupled tothe processor. The memory stores computer executable instructions thatwhen executed by the processor cause the processor to obtain via thecommunications module, a representation of a workflow as a graph, thegraph comprising a plurality of interconnected workflow tasks. Thecomputer executable instructions, when executed, also cause theprocessor to store the graph in a graph database, navigate through theworkflow tasks in the graph as the process is executed, and publish viathe communications module, a workflow state change with a topic for thecurrent workflow task. The computer executable instructions, whenexecuted, also cause the processor to receive via the communicationsmodule, a document for the current workflow task, wherein a state of theprocess is implied by the topic position in the graph, and wherein thetopic determines at least one microservice to be employed, and have atleast one workflow task associated with the current workflow taskexecuted by instructing a corresponding one or more microservices viathe communications module.

In another aspect, there is provided a method of executing processworkflows. The method is executed by a device having a communicationsmodule. The method includes obtaining via the communications module, arepresentation of a workflow as a graph, the graph comprising aplurality of interconnected workflow tasks. The method also includesstoring the graph in a graph database, navigating through the workflowtasks in the graph as the process is executed, and publishing via thecommunications module, a workflow state change with a topic for thecurrent workflow task. The method also includes receiving via thecommunications module, a document for the current workflow task, whereina state of the process is implied by the topic position in the graph,and wherein the topic determines at least one microservice to beemployed, and having at least one workflow task associated with thecurrent workflow task executed by instructing a corresponding one ormore microservices via the communications module.

In another aspect, there is provided a non-transitory computer readablemedium for executing process workflows. The computer readable mediumincludes computer executable instructions for obtaining via acommunications module, a representation of a workflow as a graph, thegraph comprising a plurality of interconnected workflow tasks. Thecomputer readable medium also includes instructions for storing thegraph in a graph database, navigating through the workflow tasks in thegraph as the process is executed, and publishing via the communicationsmodule, a workflow state change with a topic for the current workflowtask. The computer readable medium also includes instructions forreceiving via the communications module, a document for the currentworkflow task, wherein a state of the process is implied by the topicposition in the graph, and wherein the topic determines at least onemicroservice to be employed, and having at least one workflow taskassociated with the current workflow task executed by instructing acorresponding one or more microservices via the communications module.

In certain example embodiments, a workflow manager service can beaccessed to define the workflow as the graph, and to display a currentlyexecuting workflow.

In certain example embodiments, a workflow routing service can be usedto publish the workflow state change and to receive the document via adistribution cluster coupled to a group of federated microservices. Aworkflow navigator service can also be used to communicate between theworkflow graph database and the workflow routing service to communicatewith the distribution cluster.

In certain example embodiments, the server device can communicate viathe communications module with a plurality of external source systems topublish documents, obtain data from files, and to obtain data from anexternal database.

In certain example embodiments, the server device can integrate with anapplication development environment to tie the process workflow to anenterprise application. The enterprise application can be provided by afinancial institution.

In certain example embodiments, the server device can provide a userinterface to design the workflow graph, enable predefined node types tobe added and connected to each other in a graph builder work area in theuser interface, enable topics to be defined at connection points in thegraph, and enable selection of the topics to define inbound and outboundconfigurations. The server device can also provide at least onecommunication template to enable communications in the workflow to bedefined.

In certain example embodiments, the server device can provide adashboard for managing a plurality of workflows, and to enable designedworkflows to be published.

In certain example embodiments, the server device can enablesub-workflows to be created and shared across multiple workflowsdesigned using the user interface.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary computing environment 8. In thisexample, the computing environment 8 may include an application testingenvironment 10, an application development environment 12, and acommunications network 14 connecting one or more components of thecomputing environment 8. The computing environment 8 may also include orotherwise be connected to an application deployment environment 16,which provides a platform, service, or other entity responsible forposting or providing access to applications that are ready for use byclient devices. The computing environment may also include or otherwisebe connected to a business process platform 22, which provides aplatform, service or other entity responsible for designing, executing,and deploying business process workflows, whether separate from or inconnection with an application developed in the application developmentenvironment 12. The application development environment 12 includes oris otherwise coupled to one or more repositories or other data storageelements for storing application build data 18.

As used herein a “build” may refer to the process of creating anapplication program for a software release, by taking all the relevantsource code files and compiling them and then creating build artifacts,such as binaries or executable program(s), etc. “Build data” maytherefore refer to any files or other data associated with a build. Theterms “build” and “build data” (or “build file”) may also be usedinterchangeably to commonly refer to a version or other manifestation ofan application, or otherwise the code or program associated with anapplication that can be tested for performance related metrics.

The application build data 18 can include any computer code and relateddata and information for an application to be deployed, e.g., fortesting, execution or other uses. The application build data 18 can alsoinclude any computer code and related data and information for abusiness process workflow implemented by the business process platform22. In this example, the application build data 18 can be provided viaone or more repositories and include the data and code required toperform application testing on a device or simulator.

The application testing environment 10 may include or otherwise haveaccess to one or more repositories or other data storage elements forstoring application test data 20, which includes any files, reports,information, results, metadata or other data associated with and/orgenerated during a test implemented within the application testingenvironment 10.

The computing environment 8 may be part of an enterprise or otherorganization that both develops and tests applications and/or designsand implements business process workflows. In such cases, thecommunication network 14 may not be required to provide connectivitybetween the application development environment 12, the applicationtesting environment 10, and business process platform 22, wherein suchconnectivity is provided by an internal network. The applicationdevelopment environment 12, application testing environment 10, and/orbusiness process platform 22, may also be integrated into the sameenterprise environment as subsets thereof. That is, the configurationshown in FIG. 1 is illustrative only. Moreover, the computingenvironment 8 can include multiple enterprises or organizations, e.g.,wherein separate organizations are configured to, and responsible for,application testing and application development, and/or business processworkflows. For example, an organization may contract a third-party todevelop an app for their organization but perform testing internally tomeet proprietary or regulatory requirements. Similarly, an organizationthat develops an app may outsource the testing stages, particularly whentesting is performed infrequently. The application deploymentenvironment 16 may likewise be implemented in several different ways.For example, the deployment environment 16 may include an internaldeployment channel for employee devices, may include a publicmarketplace such as an app store, or may include any other channel thatcan make the app available to clients, consumers or other users.

One example of the computing environment 8 may include a financialinstitution system (e.g., a commercial bank) that provides financialservices accounts to users and processes financial transactionsassociated with those financial service accounts. Such a financialinstitution system may provide to its customers various browser-basedand mobile applications, e.g., for mobile banking, mobile investing,mortgage management, etc.

Users of applications or business processes described herein may bereferred to as customers, clients, correspondents, or other entitiesthat interact with the enterprise or organization associated with thecomputing environment 8 via one or more apps or workflows (which mayemploy one or more apps). Such users typically interact with theenvironment 8 using client communication devices. It may be noted thatsuch client communication devices may be connectable to the applicationdeployment environment 16, e.g., to download newly developed apps, toupdate existing apps, etc. In certain embodiments, a user may operatethe client communication devices such that client device performs one ormore processes consistent with what is being developed or tested in thedisclosed embodiments. For example, the user may use client device toengage and interface with a mobile or web-based banking applicationwhich has been developed and tested within the computing environment 8as herein described. In certain aspects, client communication devicescan include, but are not limited to, a personal computer, a laptopcomputer, a tablet computer, a notebook computer, a hand-held computer,a personal digital assistant, a portable navigation device, a mobilephone, a wearable device, a gaming device, an embedded device, a smartphone, a virtual reality device, an augmented reality device, thirdparty portals, an automated teller machine (ATM), and any additional oralternate computing device, and may be operable to transmit and receivedata across communication networks such as the communication network 14shown by way of example in FIG. 1 .

Communication network 14 may include a telephone network, cellular,and/or data communication network to connect different types of clientdevices. For example, the communication network 14 may include a privateor public switched telephone network (PSTN), mobile network (e.g., codedivision multiple access (CDMA) network, global system for mobilecommunications (GSM) network, and/or any 3G, 4G, or 5G wireless carriernetwork, etc.), WiFi or other similar wireless network, and a privateand/or public wide area network (e.g., the Internet).

Referring back to FIG. 1 , the computing environment 8 may also includea cryptographic server (not shown) for performing cryptographicoperations and providing cryptographic services (e.g., authentication(via digital signatures), data protection (via encryption), etc.) toprovide a secure interaction channel and interaction session, etc. Sucha cryptographic server can also be configured to communicate and operatewith a cryptographic infrastructure, such as a public key infrastructure(PKI), certificate authority (CA), certificate revocation service,signing authority, key server, etc. The cryptographic server andcryptographic infrastructure can be used to protect the various datacommunications described herein, to secure communication channelstherefor, authenticate parties, manage digital certificates for suchparties, manage keys (e.g., public and private keys in a PKI), andperform other cryptographic operations that are required or desired forparticular applications of the application development environment 12and/or application testing environment 10. The cryptographic server maybe used to protect data within the computing environment 8 (include theapplication build data 18 and/or application test data 20) by way ofencryption for data protection, digital signatures or message digestsfor data integrity, and by using digital certificates to authenticatethe identity of the users and entity devices with which the applicationdevelopment environment 12, business process platform 22, andapplication testing environment 10 communicate to inhibit data breachesby adversaries. It can be appreciated that various cryptographicmechanisms and protocols can be chosen and implemented to suit theconstraints and requirements of the particular deployment of theapplication development environment 12, business process platform 22,and application testing environment 10 as is known in the art.

In FIG. 2 , an example configuration of the application developmentenvironment 12 is shown. It can be appreciated that the configurationshown in FIG. 2 has been simplified for ease of illustration. In certainexample embodiments, the application development environment 12 mayinclude an editor module 30, a version and access control manager 32,one or more libraries 34, and a compiler 36, which would be typicalcomponents utilized in application development. In this example, theapplication development environment 12 also includes the applicationbuild data 18, which, while shown within the environment 12, may also bea separate entity (e.g., repository) used to store and provide access tothe stored build files. The application development environment 12 alsoincludes or is provided with (e.g., via an application programminginterface (API)), a development environment interface 38. Thedevelopment environment interface 38 provides communication and datatransfer capabilities between the application development environment 12and the application testing environment 10 from the perspective of theapplication development environment 12. As shown in FIG. 2 , thedevelopment environment interface 38 can connect to the communicationnetwork 14 to send/receive data and communications to/from theapplication testing environment 10. For example, the testing environmentinterface 38 can be used to provide test results to the applicationdevelopment environment 12 based on testing conducted in the applicationtesting environment 10.

The editor module 30 can be used by a developer/programmer to create andedit program code associated with an application being developed. Thiscan include interacting with the version and access control manager 32to control access to current build files and libraries 34 whileenforcing permissions and version controls. The compiler 36 may then beused to compile an application build file and other data to be storedwith the application build data 18. It can be appreciated that a typicalapplication or software development environment 12 may include otherfunctionality, modules, and systems, details of which are omitted forbrevity and ease of illustration. It can also be appreciated that theapplication development environment 12 may include modules, accounts,and access controls for enabling multiple developers to participate indeveloping an application, and modules for enabling an application to bedeveloped for multiple platforms. For example, a mobile application maybe developed by multiple teams, each team potentially having multipleprogrammers. Also, each team may be responsible for developing theapplication on a different platform, such as Apple iOS or Google Androidfor mobile versions, and Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge for web browserversions. Similarly, applications may be developed for deployment ondifferent device types, even with the same underlying operating system.

While not shown in FIG. 2 for clarity of illustration, in exampleembodiments, the application development environment 12 may beimplemented using one or more computing devices such as terminals,servers, and/or databases, having one or more processors, communicationsmodules, and database interfaces. Such communications modules mayinclude the development environment interface 38, which enables theapplication development environment 12 to communicate with one or moreother components of the computing environment 8, such as the applicationtesting environment 10, via a bus or other communication network, suchas the communication network 14. While not delineated in FIG. 2 , theapplication development environment 12 (and any of its devices, servers,databases, etc.) includes at least one memory or memory device that caninclude a tangible and non-transitory computer-readable medium havingstored therein computer programs, sets of instructions, code, or data tobe executed by the one or more processors. FIG. 2 illustrates examplesof modules, tools and engines stored in memory within the applicationdevelopment environment 12. It can be appreciated that any of themodules, tools, and engines shown in FIG. 2 may also be hostedexternally and be available to the application development environment12, e.g., via communications modules such as the development environmentinterface 38.

In this example embodiment, the application development environment 12can include a business process workflow UI 24 that can integrate orinterface with the editor module 30 to enable business process workflowsto be designed and integrated with an application that is beingdeveloped. The business process workflow UI 24 can also be connectableto the business process platform 22 to allow business process workflowsto communicate and/or integrate with application functionality bothwithin an application or between multiple applications.

In FIG. 3 , an example configuration of an enterprise system 60 isshown. The enterprise system 60 includes a communications module 62 thatenables the enterprise system 60 to communicate with one or more othercomponents of the computing environment 8, such as the applicationtesting environment 10, business process platform 22, or applicationdevelopment environment 12, via a bus or other communication network,such as the communication network 14. While not delineated in FIG. 3 ,the enterprise system 60 includes at least one memory or memory devicethat can include a tangible and non-transitory computer-readable mediumhaving stored therein computer programs, sets of instructions, code, ordata to be executed by one or more processors (not shown for clarity ofillustration). FIG. 3 illustrates examples of servers anddatastores/databases operable within the enterprise system 60. It can beappreciated that any of the components shown in FIG. 3 may also behosted externally and be available to the enterprise system 60, e.g.,via the communications module 62. In the example embodiment shown inFIG. 3 , the enterprise system 60 includes one or more servers toprovide access to client data 68, e.g., for development or testingpurposes. Exemplary servers include a mobile application server 64, aweb application server 66 and a data server 70. Although not shown inFIG. 3 , as noted above, the enterprise system 60 may also include acryptographic server for performing cryptographic operations andproviding cryptographic services. The cryptographic server can also beconfigured to communicate and operate with a cryptographicinfrastructure. The enterprise system 60 may also include one or moredata storage elements for storing and providing data for use in suchservices, such as data storage for storing client data 68.

Mobile application server 64 supports interactions with a mobileapplication installed on client device (which may be similar or the sameas a test device). Mobile application server 64 can access otherresources of the enterprise system 60 to carry out requests made by, andto provide content and data to, a mobile application on client device.In certain example embodiments, mobile application server 64 supports amobile banking application to provide payments from one or more accountsof user, among other things.

Web application server 66 supports interactions using a website accessedby a web browser application running on the client device. It can beappreciated that the mobile application server 64 and the webapplication server 66 can provide different front ends for the sameapplication, that is, the mobile (app) and web (browser) versions of thesame application. For example, the enterprise system 60 may provide abanking application that be accessed via a smartphone or tablet appwhile also being accessible via a browser on any browser-enabled device.

The client data 68 can include, in an example embodiment, financial datathat is associated with users of the client devices (e.g., customers ofthe financial institution). The financial data may include any datarelated to or derived from financial values or metrics associated withcustomers of a financial institution system (i.e. the enterprise system60 in this example), for example, account balances, transactionhistories, line of credit available, credit scores, mortgage balances,affordability metrics, investment account balances, investment valuesand types, among many others. Other metrics can be associated with thefinancial data, such as financial health data that is indicative of thefinancial health of the users of the client devices.

An application deployment module 72 is also shown in the exampleconfiguration of FIG. 3 to illustrate that the enterprise system 60 canprovide its own mechanism to deploy the developed and testedapplications onto client devices within the enterprise. It can beappreciated that the application deployment module 72 can be utilized inconjunction with a third-party deployment environment 16 such as an appstore to have tested applications deployed to employees andcustomers/clients.

It will be appreciated that only certain modules, applications, toolsand engines are shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 for ease of illustration andvarious other components would be provided and utilized by theapplication development environment 12 and enterprise system 60, as isknown in the art.

It will also be appreciated that any module or component exemplifiedherein that executes instructions may include or otherwise have accessto computer readable media such as storage media, computer storagemedia, or data storage devices (removable and/or non-removable) such as,for example, magnetic disks, optical disks, or tape. Computer storagemedia may include volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removablemedia implemented in any method or technology for storage ofinformation, such as computer readable instructions, data structures,program modules, or other data. Examples of computer storage mediainclude RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology,CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical storage, magneticcassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magneticstorage devices, or any other medium which can be used to store thedesired information and which can be accessed by an application, module,or both. Any such computer storage media may be part of any of theservers or other devices in the application testing environment 10,application development environment 12, business process platform 22,enterprise system 60, or accessible or connectable thereto. Anyapplication or module herein described may be implemented using computerreadable/executable instructions that may be stored or otherwise held bysuch computer readable media.

Referring to FIG. 4 , a block diagram of an example configuration of aworkflow orchestration system 23 for the business process platform 22 isshown. The configuration shown in FIG. 4 illustrates three components,workflow orchestration 80, integration and distribution 82, andfunctional business services 84. This configuration provides animplementation that is agnostic to functional services, which can becustom built or “off-the-shelf”. The workflow orchestration 80 caninclude functionality to enable business process workflow design andvisualization and the integration and distribution 82 can implement thebusiness process workflows to meet certain business and technicalobjectives. As shown in FIG. 4 , the workflow orchestration component 80can include a persistence and recovery module 88, a UI designer andbusiness process definition module 90, and a state management module 92.The integration and distribution component 82 includes an entitlementsmodule 94, a persistence and recovery module 96, and a connectivitymodule 98. The components 80, 82, 84 can communicate with each otherusing various protocols and commands, for example, Stream,Representational State Transfer (REST), and File operations.

Also shown in FIG. 4 is a source component 86 that can integrate and/orcommunicate with the integration and distribution component 82 usingStream, REST, File and Bulk operations to provide data to the system 23.It can be appreciated that the workflow orchestration component 80 canbe abstracted form the user via the state machine provided by the system23. The UI designer module 90 allows for a business-function orientedapproach to workflow design and, as discussed further below, enables theworkflow to be represented as a graph. The streaming distribution layer(providing the Stream operations) offers a normalized paradigm forfunction integration and onboarding. Moreover, the system 23 includesresiliency for persistence and recovery in multiple tiers.

Referring now to FIG. 5 , a block diagram illustrating an example of aconfiguration for the business process platform 22 is shown. Thebusiness process platform 22 is configured to visualize, define, andimplement a business process as a graph. The platform 22 enables dynamicrouting and functional declarations for application onboarding. Theplatform 22 also provides a standard integration mechanism to facilitatea federated build of the processes using a microservice layer. Messagepersistence can occur in a queue and graph database for recovery. The UIfunctionality, described in greater detail below, allows for a low- orno-code implementation of the process from building blocks available tothe platform 22. This also enables the platform 22 to be integrated withprocess automation tools.

The platform 22 in the configuration shown in FIG. 5 includes a workflowmanager 100 that uses a workflow manager service 102 to determine anddisplay currently executing workflows as well as to define workflows asa graph. The workflow manager service 102 is connected to a workflowgraph database 106. An example of an implementation for the workflowgraph database 106 can include a Neo4j database, which is considered tobe efficient in querying complex graphs. The workflow graph database 106can unlock value from data relationships to facilitate the creation ofelectronic products and services and/or to enhance existing electronicproducts and services. In comparison to a relational database, a graphdatabase 106 can model and store data and relationships with lesscomplexity and can avoid the need to redesign schema when new types ofdata and/or relationships are added. These attributes make the use of agraph database 106 particularly advantageous for master data management,network and IT operations, graph-based searches, identity and accessmanagement, fraud detection, recommendations and social capabilities.

The workflow manager service 102 is also configured to store theworkflow graphs in such a workflow graph database 106. A workflownavigator service 108 can load a workflow graph instance from the graphdatabase 106 and interact with a workflow routing service 110 todetermine and execute the next workflow task. The workflow routingservice 110 queries the workflow navigator service 108 for the nextworkflow task according to the graph. The workflow routing service 110also interfaces with a distribution cluster 112 to egress or ingress atopic and coordinate with one or more federated microservices 116.

The distribution cluster 112 can also use the workflow routing service110 to subscribe to ingress the topic for the current task such that therouting service 110 receives a document for the current task. Here, thestate of the workflow is given by the topic position. The routingservice 110 also updates the document and publishes a workflow statechange egress topic for the current task, e.g., by attaching a dynamicrouting header.

The distribution cluster 112 includes or otherwise accesses a workflowstate service 114 (e.g., using Pulsar functionality) to map the externalingress to internal ingress topics as well as to map the internal egressto external egress topics. The workflow state service 114 also validatesand logs the published document and the workflow state change in aserver 104 that is accessed by the workflow manager service 102 todisplay the currently executing workflow as noted above.

The distribution cluster 112 is coupled to a set of federatedmicroservices 116 to provide the flexibility of onboarding functionalmicroservices for extensions. For example, web publication, time seriestools, and real-time monitoring can be onboarded. These microservices116 can also be leveraged in other workflows, providing modularity to anorganization that employs the system across a number of businessworkflows. The distribution cluster 112 interacts with the federatedmicroservices 116 to enable a client to subscribe to egress a topic. Theclient can also post from the federated microservices 116 to thedistribution cluster 112 to ingress a topic.

Examples of such microservices that can be utilized by a financialinstitution include, without limitation: payments, money transfergeneration, wire enrichment, credit/liquidity service, fraud/anti-moneylaundering, accounting service, limits management, supplemental incomerouting service, business rules and reference management, approvalservice, alerts/email service, reconciliation service (matching), anddocument generation.

The federated microservices 116 can include a gateway 118 to communicatewith external systems 120 as needed as well as to communicate with aworkflow integration service 122 in the platform 22. The workflowintegration serviced 122 can communicate with external source systems124 such as external web services, drop copy services and externaldatabases to allow external systems to publish documents. Similarly theintegration service 122 can pick up data from a files dropped to a dropcopy service or from a database.

FIGS. 6 a-6 c illustrate a process workflow as a graph. As shown in FIG.6 a , the process includes a number of nodes that proceed through thebusiness process and can include multiple sub-workflows that can each beconstructed in a similar way. Various communication nodes areillustrated to indicate when the process passes between differentparties by way of, for example, an email. The sub-workflows are shown inFIGS. 6 b and 6 c . Sub-workflow 1 shown in FIG. 6 b includes variousemail, upload, input, and amend operations that are steps in thebusiness workflow that are now captured and controlled according to thegraph. As noted above, this allows the state of the workflow to beinferred from the position in the graph. Sub-workflow 2 shown in FIG. 6c illustrates a sub-process in which two parallel input operations areperformed.

FIG. 6 d illustrates another process workflow as a graph, in thisexample including distribution, issuance, and approval for a structurednotes workflow. The process in this example includes approval of thestructure and intent to sell, distributor selection and routing,document drafting (prospectus, etc.), and final approval. It may benoted that the graph structure facilitates parallelization, amendments,and automated alerts.

By utilizing a graph structure for the business process workflow, thetopic (issued via the distribution cluster 112) implies the state andthus processes do need to be linear. This graphical representation alsopermits graphs to be chained together, allowing for sub-flows asdiscussed above. Documents in the process can pass through the workflowvia the graph edges to microservices and users that receive and/orinteract with the document (e.g., to add a signature).

FIG. 7 is an example of a user interface 200 for designing a businessprocess workflow. The user interface 200 provides a “canvass” with anexample of a graph that has been built from a number of nodes andindicating various tasks. Each block 202 added to the user interface 200can represent a node in the workflow and can be connected to otherblocks 202. The connection points 204 between nodes and edges can beconsidered tasks 206. The illustrated graph also includes a sub-workflow208 that can be defined separately and reused where applicable in otherworkflows. It can be appreciated that by representing a workflow as agraph and storing same in a graph database, designing and visualizingthe workflow is facilitated by connecting blocks 202 (nodes) and tasks206 (edges). This allows the topic associate with a node to imply thestate of the workflow at any given time in the process, while enablingnot linear workflows to be implemented (e.g., to obtain multiplesignature or contributions to a document in the workflow). Moreover, thegraph structure facilitates onboarding the microservices 116 byassociating the microservices 116 with tasks 206, connection points 204,or blocks 202 in the graph. In this way, the user interface 200 providesan intuitive way to build the workflow, with different types of nodesavailable from a library, e.g., “intake”, and “decision” as shown inFIG. 7 . The workflow, once designed in this way, can be exported to anXML or similar file format to provide an output that can be used tocreate the graph structure to be stored in the graph database 106.

FIG. 8 is an example of a design dashboard 220 user interface fordesigning a business process workflow. The dashboard 220 enables usersto drill down into a topic and define inbound and outboundconfigurations, including applying business rules and defining inputsand outputs. For example, as shown in FIG. 9 , a document communicationconfiguration tool 230 can also be provided, which enables users todefine email template configurations for communications that areintegrated into the workflow. It can be appreciated that the dashboarduser interfaces 200, 220 can also provide other dashboards, such as aworkflow dashboard showing multiple workflows and sub-workflows withadministrative tools and the ability to publish a workflow oncedesigned. The UI design tool can integrate with an underlying statemachine provided by the business process platform 22 to store thepublished workflow as a graph and traverses the graph,distribute/exchange documents, and employ microservices according to theimplied state of the graph as discussed above.

Referring to FIG. 10 , an example embodiment of computer executableinstructions for executing a process workflow using the business processplatform 22 is shown. At block 300, the business process platform 22obtains a representation of a workflow as a graph. This can be obtainedfrom an external source or created using the user interface 200. It canbe appreciated that, as discussed above, the user interface 200 can beprovided as a tool in the business process workflow UI 24 that isintegrated in the application development environment 12 of anenterprise system, or can be provided as a stand-alone tool. At block302 the graph is stored in the graph database 106. The graph includes aconfiguration of microservices and other operations that are triggeredor implied by the state of the graph and the platform 22 can navigatethrough the workflow tasks in the graph as the process is executed atblock 304, by using the workflow navigator service 108, the workflowrouting service 110, the distribution cluster 112 and by accessing thefederated microservice(s) 116 according to the configuration implied bythe graph.

At block 306 the workflow state change(s) can also be published with atopic for the current workflow task. This implies the state of the statemachine implemented by the business process platform 22 and allowsoperations associated with the workflow to be controlled andimplemented, e.g., having a document signed, verifying a payment, etc.At block 308 a document for the current workflow task, such as a formbeing filled out or a transaction being completed is received orotherwise handled by the business process platform 22. At block 310, atleast one workflow task is executed by instructing a correspondingmicroservice 116. It can be appreciated that blocks 304, 306, 308, and310 can be done in parallel or linearly depending on the configurationof the workflow and by storing the workflow as a graph the execution ofthe workflow is not constrained by a linear flow. That is, multipleworkflow topics or tasks can be implemented in parallel withoutdeparting from the progression of the workflow being executed.

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram of an example of computer executableinstructions for designing a business process workflow, e.g., using theuser interface 200. At block 320, the user interface 200 is provided toa user to enable the workflow graph to be designed, e.g., as shown inFIG. 7 . At block 322, predefined node types can be added and connectedto each other in a graph builder work area or canvass as describedabove. This enables the workflow visualization shown in FIG. 7 andultimately as shown in FIG. 6 for a complete workflow. At block 324,topics can be defined at the connection points in the graph, with edgesrepresenting tasks to be executed. The topics imply the state of theprocess and can inform the state machine provided by the businessprocess platform 22. At block 326, the user interface 200 can allowselection of the topics to define inbound and outbound configurations,as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 described above. In this way, the userinterface 200 provides a tool to allow users to visualize, design, andultimately implement a business process workflow as a graph that is thenstored as a graph to intuitively inform the user or other administratorsof the workflow of the progress and states associated with the workflow.

It will be appreciated that the examples and corresponding diagrams usedherein are for illustrative purposes only. Different configurations andterminology can be used without departing from the principles expressedherein. For instance, components and modules can be added, deleted,modified, or arranged with differing connections without departing fromthese principles.

The steps or operations in the flow charts and diagrams described hereinare just for example. There may be many variations to these steps oroperations without departing from the principles discussed above. Forinstance, the steps may be performed in a differing order, or steps maybe added, deleted, or modified.

Although the above principles have been described with reference tocertain specific examples, various modifications thereof will beapparent to those skilled in the art as outlined in the appended claims.

1. A server device for executing process workflows, the server devicecomprising: a processor; a communications module coupled to theprocessor; and a memory coupled to the processor, the memory storingcomputer executable instructions that when executed by the processorcause the processor and communication module to: obtain a representationof a workflow as a graph, the graph comprising a plurality ofinterconnected workflow tasks; navigate through the workflow tasks inthe graph as the workflow is executed, wherein a state of the workflowis implied by a position of the workflow in the graph; publish aworkflow state change for a current workflow task; receive data for thecurrent workflow task; and have at least one workflow task executed. 2.The server device of claim 1, wherein the computer executableinstructions further cause the processor to: store the graph in a graphdatabase.
 3. The server device of claim 1, wherein the data for thecurrent workflow task comprises at least one document.
 4. The serverdevice of claim 1, wherein the workflow state change is published as atopic for the current workflow task, and wherein the state of theworkflow is implied by a topic position in the graph.
 5. The serverdevice of claim 1, wherein the computer executable instructions furthercause the processor to: instruct a corresponding one or moremicroservices based on the workflow task being executed.
 6. The serverdevice of claim 5, wherein a topic position in the graph determines atleast one of the microservices to be employed.
 7. The server device ofclaim 1, wherein the computer executable instructions further cause theprocessor to: access a workflow manager service to define the workflowas the graph, and to display a currently executing workflow.
 8. Theserver device of claim 1, wherein the computer executable instructionsfurther cause the processor to: use a workflow routing service topublish the workflow state change and to receive the data via adistribution cluster coupled to a group of federated microservices. 9.The server device of claim 8, wherein the computer executableinstructions further cause the processor to: use a workflow navigatorservice to communicate between a database storing the graph and theworkflow routing service to communicate with the distribution cluster.10. The server device of claim 1, wherein the computer executableinstructions further cause the processor to: communicate with aplurality of external source systems to publish documents, obtain thedata from files, and to obtain the data from an external database. 11.The server device of claim 1, wherein the computer executableinstructions further cause the processor to: integrate with anapplication development environment to tie the workflow represented bythe graph to an enterprise application.
 12. The server device of claim11, wherein the enterprise application is provided by a financialinstitution.
 13. The server device of claim 1, wherein the computerexecutable instructions further cause the processor to: provide a userinterface to design the graph; enable predefined node types to be addedand connected to each other in a graph builder work area in the userinterface; enable topics to be defined at connection points in thegraph; and enable selection of the topics to define inbound and outboundconfigurations.
 14. The server device of claim 13, wherein the computerexecutable instructions further cause the processor to: enablesub-workflows to be created and shared across multiple workflowsdesigned using the user interface.
 15. A method of executing processworkflows, the method executed by a device having a communicationsmodule and comprising: obtaining a representation of a workflow as agraph, the graph comprising a plurality of interconnected workflowtasks; navigating through the workflow tasks in the graph as theworkflow is executed, wherein a state of the workflow is implied by aposition of the workflow in the graph; publishing a workflow statechange for a current workflow task; receiving data for the currentworkflow task; and having at least one workflow task executed.
 16. Themethod of claim 15, further comprising: storing the graph in a graphdatabase.
 17. The method of claim 15, wherein the workflow state changeis published as a topic for the current workflow task, and wherein thestate of the workflow is implied by a topic position in the graph. 18.The method of claim 15, further comprising: instructing a correspondingone or more microservices based on the workflow task being executed. 19.The method of claim 15, further comprising: using a workflow routingservice to publish the workflow state change and to receive the data viaa distribution cluster coupled to a group of federated microservices.20. A non-transitory computer readable medium for executing processworkflows, the computer readable medium comprising computer executableinstructions for: obtaining a representation of a workflow as a graph,the graph comprising a plurality of interconnected workflow tasks;navigating through the workflow tasks in the graph as the workflow isexecuted, wherein a state of the workflow is implied by a position ofthe workflow in the graph; publishing a workflow state change for acurrent workflow task; receiving data for the current workflow task; andhaving at least one workflow task executed.